Wise Words

"Technology is advancing exponentially - that is the reason why the smartphone in your pocket today is a million times cheaper, smaller, and a thousand times more powerful than what used to be a 60 million dollar supercomputer 40 years ago." World-renowned filmmaker and futurist, Jason Silva, joins us to discuss why human beings should unlearn linear thinking and relearn exponential thinking in the digital age. Jason is known for hosting the National Geographic Emmy-Nominated reality series, Brain Games, and for his insightful YouTube series, “Shots of Awe,” in which he explores various aspects of the human condition through philosophical micro-documentaries. -------------------------------------------------- Related links Follow Jason: @jasonlsilva https://www.thisisjasonsilva.com Shots of Awe: https://www.youtube.com/ShotsOfAwe Send your thoughts to: @wise_ceo --------------------------------------------------- Check out more WISE content! Website: www.wise-qatar.org Email: wisewordspod@gmail.com Twit

Multi-award-winning entrepreneur and Founder & CEO of Chatterbox, Mursal Hedayat, joins us to discuss why it has become essential to create better support systems for the refugee workforce. A former refugee to the UK from Afghanistan herself, Mursal was inspired to create a platform that could recruit individuals from the large pool of untapped potential from the refugee community. Chatterbox combines AI-powered self-study courses alongisde algorithmically matched native language coaches from the refugee community. While clients can learn from a series of different languages, coaches earn a living and have a chance to reclaim their professional identities. Chatterbox was part of the 2018 WISE Accelerator Cohort and Mursal Hedayat will also be attending the 2019 WISE Summit. -------------------------------------------------- Related links Follow Mursal: @mursalhedayat LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mursalhedayat/ Chatterbox: https://www.chatterbox.io An article by Mursal: https://www.forbes.com/sites

Head of Education in Emergency at Mercy Corps, Omar Al-Tal, joins this episode to discuss his experience working with displaced youth in Jordan, Greece, and Iraq. Following our previous episode with Louka Parry on Social Emotional Learning, Omar also incorporates Social and Emotional Learning into his work with refugees on the ground. Omar describes himself as a storyteller and during our conversation he painted a vivid picture explaining why refugees are so keen to prioritize education and learning. He will be attending the 2019 WISE Summit as a speaker. -------------------------------------------------- Related links Follow Omar: twitter.com/OmarAlTal1 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/omar-al-tal-a57b4b76 Mercy Corps: https://www.mercycorps.org Article about Omar's story: https://www.mercycorps.org/videos/jordan-syria/omars-vision-how-war-shaping-next-champions-peace Send your thoughts to: @wise_ceo --------------------------------------------------- Check out more WISE content! Website: www.wise-qatar.org Ema

In the age of rapid technological advance, AI, and Machine Learning, the education community is increasingly looking for solutions for human beings to adapt to new environments and learn the latest in-demand skillsets. The latest buzzword to make the news is "Social-Emotional Learning". Here to tell us all about it and why it is important is Louka Parry, CEO and founder of The Learning Future, an organization that supports schools, systems and companies to thrive in tomorrow’s world. He has spent the last five years training thousands of educators and leaders globally to increase their positive impact. He will be attending WISE 2019 Summit as a speaker.

Dr. Steven MacGregor, global expert in executive health and performance with PhD and Master's degree in Design Thinking, joins us to discuss wellbeing in the workplace, drawing ideas from his book 'Chief Wellbeing Officer'. Steven is a frequent keynote speaker and guest professor with experience in research and teaching at Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, IE, IMD, IESE, CEIBS and Pompeu Fabra. He has also trained with Olympic athletes, Tour de France riders and Ironman champions. International level Duathlete and former national champion currently racing for FC Barcelona. He will be attending the 2019 WISE Summit as a speaker. -------------------------------------------------- Related links Subscribe to Chief Wellbeing Officer: https://soundcloud.com/user-223639779 Buy the book: https://amzn.to/2XNSNtR Follow Steven: https://twitter.com/spmacg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spmacg/ The LAB: https://twitter.com/thelabcn --------------------------------------------------- Check out more WISE content! Web

Robert Talbert, Professor and Assistant Chair in the Mathematics Department at Grand Valley State University, joins this episode to discuss everything to do with flipped learning. Robert wrote the book: Flipped Learning: A Guide for Higher Education Faculty, published by Stylus Publications in May 2017. "I wrote this book because I've been teaching with flipped learning for a while (since 2009) and writing about it on my blog for about the same amount of time. During that time I've made a lot (!) of mistakes and figured a lot of things out. I wanted to collect everything I know about flipped learning --- along with some research, theoretical foundations, history, and practical examples --- and put it in one volume. I'm convinced that flipped learning is the way of the future in higher education and I want to give faculty in all walks of higher ed a handbook for how to get started and keep going." - Robert Talbert Related links Series on "How much research has been done on flipped learning": Original 2016

Pioneer of gamification, Yu-kai Chou joins us to discuss the many ways of incorporating the elements of play into learning. Since beginning his gamified ventures in the early 2000s, Yu-kai has become known for creating Octalysis, a gamification framework which meticulously covers every important core necessary to make anything in your life more gamified and interesting. His book, 'Actionable Gamification' was published in 2015. Related links: Follow Yu-Kai: https://twitter.com/yukaichou Yu-kai's website: https://yukaichou.com Octalysis Prime: http://join.octalysisprime.com/op-so/ --------------------------------------------------- Check out more WISE content! Website: www.wise-qatar.org Email: wisewordspod@gmail.com Twitter: twitter.com/WISE_Tweets Instagram: wiseqatar

Our last episode featured three guest speakers we met in WISE@Paris, where they shared their thoughts on the future of work and employment. Episode 31 continues where we left off and brings three new faces to the spotlight: Marion Voillot, Nicolas Sadirac, and Karim Sy. Marion is a PhD student at the Center of Research and Interdisciplinarity in Paris (CRI) and co-founder of Lab Premiers Cris. Nicolas is the former head of non-profit coding school '42'. He recently co-founded 'Zone 01'. Karim is the founder of non-profit Jokkolabs, an innovation and entrepreneurship platform focused on Africa. Related links: Marion's Twitter: https://twitter.com/marion_voillot?lang=en Karim's Twitter: https://twitter.com/ksyDaily CRI Paris: http://www.cri-paris.org School 42: https://www.42.us.org Jokkolabs: https://www.jokkolabs.net --------------------------------------------------- Check out more WISE content! Website: www.wise-qatar.org Email: wisewordspod@gmail.com Twitter: twitter.com/WISE_Tweets Instagram: wiseqa

10 years ago, the idea of a company using the internet to research candidates was a novelty. Now, having a bad online presence is considered to be detrimental. Before the rise of tech, work used to be all about the human element. Nowadays, companies are starting to use algorithms to find their ideal candidate. How should human beings respond to this rapid technological advancement? Samir Saran of the Observer Research Foundation, Pierre Dubuc of OpenClassrooms, and Adrien Ledoux of JobTeaser join the discussion about the future of work. Observer Research Foundation: https://www.orfonline.org OpenClassrooms: https://openclassrooms.com JobTeaser: https://www.jobteaser.com --------------------------------------------------- Website: https://www.wise-qatar.org Email: wisewordspod@gmail.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/WISE_Tweets Instagram: wiseqatar

Recent trends of increasing global youth unemployment have sparked debate on the return on investment for higher education. Mona Mourshed founded Wise Awards 2018 winner - Generation: You Employed, with an aim of connecting education to employability and providing the necessary skills required for a competitive job market.

How do you create the best higher education experience without having the preconcieved notions or burdens of an existing institution. CEO and founder of Minerva, Ben Nelson, talks to WISE Words about how Minerva University aims to set the standard for other prestigious universities to follow. - Minerva website: https://www.minerva.kgi.edu - Learn about other education initiatives on our website: https://www.wise-qatar.org

Following our last episode with Dr. Richard Davidson, we talked to four aspiring individuals from around the world who are advocating for well-being's inclusion in education from an early age. Please enjoy the last episode of March and be sure to check out the links below to learn more about the guest speakers and their work. - Zarlasht Halaimzai, Director of Refugee Trauma Initiative https://www.refugeetrauma.org - Greta Rossi, Co-founder of Recipes for Wellbeing, Ākāśa Innovation, Pitch Your Failure and an Ashoka ChangemakerXchange Facilitator http://www.recipesforwellbeing.org - Talia Kaufman, Programs Director of Skateistan https://www.skateistan.org - Jennifer Szafran Dillard, PE Teacher at Qatar Academy Al Wakra https://bit.ly/2FsQ1Op You can learn more about well-being and many other initiatives on the WISE website: https://www.wise-qatar.org

Why is it that some people are more vulnerable to life's challenges while others are more resiliant? Our guest speaker, Dr. Richard Davidson of the University of Wisconsin, has sought to answer this question through his groundbreaking research on emotion and the brain. According to Davidson, well-being is a skill which requires guidance and practice like any other. Mastering the science behind this fact is the key to making a kinder, wiser, and more compassionate world. Find out more about his findings in this episode.

This episode we meet three practitioners who are putting in place education methods, solutions, and policies that tackle the mismatch between how we teach and how our brain functions. They also share how they use findings in educational neuroscience to shift educational practices from standardization to personalization. This episode was recorded during a webinar with members from the WISE community:  
Ondine Bullot, CEO and Founder, Better Kids www.betterkids.education/
Elliot Washor, Co-Director, Big Picture Learning www.bigpicture.org/
Rogers Kamugisha, National Design and Training Manager, Educate! www.experienceeducate.org/ You can view the original webinar here: youtu.be/WBrXdLW0ihg

How often have you been asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?” we challenge that question with the Director of Education at KidZania, Dr Ger Graus. We hope you enjoy this episode between our host Stavros and Dr Graus, as we learn about the findings from KidZania around the impact of role-models and how they form career aspirations from a very young age. Follow Dr Graus on Twitter @GerGraus, and learn more about KidZania here: https://kidzania.com/en

Our first episode of the year features Jim Shelton and Rebecca Winthrop to bring you a macro-level view of education and access. We also find out the underlying challenges that may give us clues to answer the question: how do we take the luck out of education? This two-part episode begins with some of the different facets that contribute to inequality and the second part will look at what we can do to make sure that every young person, regardless of their background, is able to pursue their education. Jim Shelton is the former Head of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s Education division, and also the former Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Education. You can follow Jim on Twitter @JIMSEDU, and find out more about CZI here: chanzuckerberg.com/ Dr Rebecca Winthrop is the Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution. You can follow Rebecca on Twitter @RebeccaWinthrop, and find out more about Brookings here: www.brookings.edu/center/center-fo…e

Our first episode of the year features Jim Shelton and Rebecca Winthrop to bring you a macro-level view of education and access. We also find out the underlying challenges that may give us clues to answer the question: how do we take the luck out of education? This two-part episode begins with some of the different facets that contribute to inequality and the second part will look at what we can do to make sure that every young person, regardless of their background, is able to pursue their education. Jim Shelton is the former Head of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s Education division, and also the former Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Education. You can follow Jim on Twitter @JIMSEDU, and find out more about CZI here: chanzuckerberg.com/ Dr Rebecca Winthrop is the Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution. You can follow Rebecca on Twitter @RebeccaWinthrop, and find out more about Brookings here: www.brookings.edu/center/center-fo…e

Our host, Stavros Yiannouka, shares a warm welcome with fellow producers of WISE Words, Sarah Fayyad and Vesta Gheibi. We discuss some highlights from 2018 (including some funny moments) and share some of our thoughts for what's to come in 2019 for Season 2.

In this final episode of the season we bring to you a special recording from WISE@Accra. The episode is narrated by WISE's very own Sarah Fayyad. As a former teacher herself, Sarah shares her insight and the voices of our community to understand the crucial role of the community in ensuring quality and access to education. We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we loved making it. Please stay tuned for a very exciting season in 2019!

This episode features an interesting discussion between Stavros and Alan Greenberg, exploring what it takes to make education accessible in an age of consumption. Alan Greenberg is currently the Director of Wideacademy and former head of Education at Apple. During his time at Apple he became involved in what has become a notable contribution to the podcast movement.